AGREEABLE PUBLIC DINNER. 157 be nothing left but a hole three feet in circumference, and no end to its depth." "A STRONG APPEAL TO SUBSCRIBERS. "An editor in North Carolina calls loudly on his subscribers to pay up their dues, as his wife has furnished him with three babies to feed. If this appeal be not successful, we advise the editor to quit printing and buy him a farm." I had an excellent opportunity of witnessing the full exhibition of this taste for overstrained wit and extravagant expression in a pleasant excursion made soon after my arrival in New-York, in which I was invited to accompany Mr. Daniel Webster, the celebrated senator of Massachusetts, and one of the first orators of the day, in a visit to Newark, a town in New-Jersey, about ten miles from New-York, on the other side of the Hudson. Mr. Caleb Cushing, another Northern member of Congress, was of the party, as well as Mr. Pennington, the governor elect of New-Jersey; Mr. Peet, the superintendent of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum; and the editors of two daily papers in the city, Mr. Charles King, of the American, and Colonel Stone, of the Commercial Advertiser. Our journey was performed by steamboat and railroad; the day was remarkably favourable, and every one was in high spirits. The morning was devoted to the delivery of political addresses by Mr. Webster and Mr. Cushing, to the inhabitants of Newark, on the present aspect of the times; and, after a procession through the town, we all sat down to a public dinner, under the presi dency of Mr. Frelinghuysen, the mayor. It was one of the merriest and wittiest of public dinners at which I was ever present. Every speech was a series of epigrams and jokes, and brought up some of the parties alluded to, who repaid the debt with full interest in rapid volleys of the sharpest repartees. Though there was scarcely a dozen bottles of wine drank among 200 persons-the worthy mayor who presided being a member of the Temperance Society, and, like myself, drinking only water, and more than half the company doing the same-yet the table was kept literally in a roar by the continual excitement of new matter for merriment, furnished by almost every one who spoke. On our return about four o'clock, we found the railroad blocked up by one of the cars being upset and stretched across the rails; and as we were then about midway between Newark and Jersey City, there was no alternative but that of our waiting where we were until a new train could be brought from the point to which we were bound as far as the spot where the impediment occurred, and take us onward to our destination. In England, such a detention as this to a numerous party would have created great dissatisfaction, which would have shown itself in every variety of mode, according to the temperament of the different individuals. Here, on the contrary, everybody made the best of the mishap, cheerfully awaiting the arrival of the remedy; and during the interval, which occupied nearly two hours, we all sat in the omnibus car in which we had set out, to the number of twenty-five or thirty at least, while various individuals in succession sang droll songs, and told still droller stories, with the utmost glee, so that not a symptom of uneasiness was evinced by any one of the party. Indeed, I never witnessed such uniform good temper and forbearance among a similar number of people on any occa⚫ sion within my recollection. Among the anecdotes of the day, the following was related by Mr. Cushing, the representative from Massachusetts, and it was told in the presence of Mr. Webster him. self, who laughed as heartily as any one at its recital. Mr. Webster, though a handsome man, with fine, large, express. ive eyes, beautiful teeth, and a commanding and intellectual countenance, has a remarkably brown complexion, as much so às a native of the south of Italy or Spain. During the dinner, and while Mr. Webster was speaking, the servants of the hotel at which we dined had the fullest opportunity of noticing the peculiarity of his complexion, and it evidently made an impression on them; for, when Mr. Cushing went into the kitchen after dinner to light his cigar, the col oured servants were surrounding the fire, with their backs towards him, and, not perceiving his approach, they contin ued their conversation, till one of them, addressing herself to her fellow-servant, exclaimed, "Well, Betsey, we col oured people may begin to hold up our heads now; for they say that Mr. Webster is to be the next president, and surely he'll be in our favour, for he's as dark as any of us, and is a coloured man himself." This was followed by a loud laugh, which rung through the kitchen, till the discovery of Mr. Cushing's approach to the fire rather disconcerted the par ties, and stifled the farther discussion of the subject. It is worthy of remark, that there are some of the colour. ed people who are not very anxious for the amalgamation of the races, which seems to be so much dreaded by the whites (though this dread must rather be pretended than EXORBITANT RENTS.-BOARDING. 159 real, since all the varieties of mulattoes, of different shades, the natural fruits of such amalgamation, are far more numerous in the North than the blacks), for a memorial was recently presented to the State Legislature of Massachusetts on this subject, of which the following is a copy, with the introductory paragraph. "MIXED MARRIAGES. "The following memorial, signed by a number of persons of colour, was presented the other day in the Massachusetts Legislature : "To the Honourable Senate and House of Representatives: The undersigned, people of colour in the city of Boston, have learned with deep regret and mortification that Charlotte F. Thompson and fifteen other ladies of Rehobeth have petitioned your honourable body for a repeal of the law which interdicts marriage between white people and persons of colour. Now your memorialists, regarding this as a very wise and salutary law, calculated to preserve the purity of our race, and to prevent the evils resulting from a mixed breed, do respectfully, but earnestly, remonstrate and protest against a repeal of the law referred to; and, as in duty bound, will ever pray." The peculiarity of living in boarding-houses instead of keeping house or occupying private lodgings, is one of the most distinguishing features of society in New-York. There are many causes that have had their share in contributing to this. One, no doubt, is the too large scale on which houses are usually built, and the difficulty of finding a small one adapted to the purse of a family with moderate means. The house in which we resided, next to Bunker's Hotel, 37 Broadway, was one which would be considered dear in any part of London at £300 a year, and might be had in a country town for £100 at the utmost. The present rent paid by its tenant was 3500 dollars or £700 a year; and the owner asked the exorbitant price of 5000 dollars or £1000 after the expiration of the year just about to close. In addition to the exorbitant rents, the difficulty of procuring and keeping good domestic servants is another cause which leads to the living in boarding-houses; and a third, no doubt, is the frequent change of occupation and habitation, which is common to all classes in America. The advantages derived from this mode of life to unmarried men are unquestionable, relieving them from the necessity of great expenditure and care; but the disadvantages are also great; for the habit of finding all that they need without much cost or trouble, and the enjoyment of female society besides, lessens the necessity of marriage; and, like the clubs in London, boarding-houses in America indispose men to form attachments or to contemplate a more permanent settlement. To the young married couple it is also a convenience, for the reasons already alleged; but its disadvantage is much greater to them in the end; for, when they become parents, and separate establishments are more necessary, the wife has acquired no experience in housekeeping, and both her husband and herself are averse to the trouble, care, and anxiety of a separate house and separate servants, besides finding it less exciting and agreeable to sit down to breakfast and dine alone, and pass the evening without companions, to which they were accustomed while living at the boarding-house. Many accordingly seek refuge from this married solitude by going out to parties, paying morning visits, laying themselves out for invitations, and giving expensive routs and balls themselves at great cost and great inconvenience, while the progressive vitiation of the taste which this brings, fed with stimulants and excitement, never allows them, perhaps, to return with pleasure to the sober and wholesome tranquillity of a wellordered domestic home. The boarding-house life was to us, however, extremely disagreeable from the beginning, and we did not get at all more reconciled to it at the end. The early hour at which all are rung out of bed by the sound of a great bell, as if at school; the rapidity with which persons rush to the table exactly at eight o'clock; the certainty that if you are five minutes after this, the breakfast will be half consumed, and what remains will be cold and unpalatable; the haste with which everything is despatched, and the air of indifference with which parties rise up and go away to business when they have done; the earliness of the dinner hour, three o'clock, with a repetition of the same hurry and bustle over again; the unskilfulness and indifference of the servants, mostly coloured people; the utter want of sympathy or consideration on the part of the boarding-house keepers, as to whether their inmates are provided with all they need or not; the absence of the many little nameless conveniences with which English houses are furnished; the imperfect hanging of the bells, and the difficulty of getting them answered; and the preference of showy appearances to cleanliness, are but a part of the many evils of a boarding-house life, as they appeared to us at least. The contrast of all this is seen in the private dwellings of the opulent which we had the opportunity of visiting, where every comfort and luxury that the most fastidious could desire were united, and where the only objection to the style of living was its great expense. PECULIARITIES OF EXPRESSION. 161 Of peculiarities in expression I did not meet with nearly so many as I had been led to expect. A few words only are used in good society here that are not well known or common with us, though some others convey a different sense from that in which we are accustomed to hear them. The word sparse is constantly used, in speaking of population, as opposed to dense, as "the Western states are but yet sparsely peopled." The word understandingly is used for advisedly, as in the phrase " I should have replied to your question earlier, but I wished to do it understandingly." A loafer is a term applied to an idler who troubles himself about other men's business, and who is a lounger about places of public or private amusements; and also to a low thief and vagabond. In the different applications of words well known to us, the following are examples. A person who is ill or indisposed, from whatever cause or of whatever disease, is always said to be sick. The word storm does not, as with us, mean a high wind, but merely rain or snow, with or without wind. No force of wind alone, however, is called a storm, though rain or snow in a perfect calm is invariably so denominated; and the phrase "stormy weather" is used when rain or snow is descending without a breath of wind in the heavens. The term ugly is rarely or never applied to the person, but to the qualities of mind; and an ugly man or an ugly woman means a person angry temper, or petulant, or unprincipled, or disagreeable in mind and manners. On the other hand, the term lovely man is as frequent as that of lovely woman, and neither of them has the least relation to personal beauty, but means always a combination of talent, virtue, and affability in the person to whom it is applied. A clever person is a phrase used to denote a lesser degree of excellence than lovely, and applies chiefly to sweetness or amiability of disposition, meaning good-nature rather than talent. Speaking of a lady who was of very plain exterior, but who possessed high qualities of mind and heart, I once heard this description given: "She is undoubtedly a very lovely woman, but it cannot be denied that she is bitter homely." The term right away is in constant use to indicate immediately. Pretty smart and pretty miserable are phrases that bespeak good health and spirits, or the reverse; and on asking a lady or gentleman how they do, one or other of these answers is not uncommon. When a person is greatly affected by disease, or when excessively fatigued, either by physical labour, VOL. I.-X of |